BBQ & Bondings
by kimcat
Summary: Danny strikes a deal to give Skulker something else to hunt. Although when dealing with eccentric ghosts you have to be willing to let yourself give in to the absurdity once in a while. One-shot


_I always enjoyed a good fic with the more eccentric characters from this show heh... This story spawned from the bowels of my mind and isn't ment to be taken too seriously. With that in mind I hope you enjoy :)_

_(Will be cross posted on Ao3_)

* * *

**~BBQ & Bondings~**

Danny stared blankly at his computer, as he had done for nearly a half hour now. The black haired teen let out a resigned sigh. Looking out the window through half focused eyes he found himself stifling a groan realizing it was still broad daylight.

"Too early for patrol" He grumbled to himself sending a glare to the bright blue sky, as if willing it to change.

Turning back to his computer where he had his homework on one side of the screen, and some internet flash game failing to load on the other, he stared at both with a scowl. Long story short, he was bored.

As the teen started to fiddle with his phone debating weather or not to call his friends, inspiration struck. A smile crept its way on to the pale teen's face as he once again checked the time. Half past five stared proudly back at him on his phone display screen.

Nodding to himself he stood and made his way out of his room and into the garage. Upon opening the squeaky door, he immediately flicked on the light, and began his search. The incandescent tubes buzzed softly echoing about the space quietly as he began his search.

It wasn't long before the odd egg shaped thing was spotted. The portable 'Fenton Fryer' or Ecto-BBQ, as it was referred to by the teens of the household, sat proudly on a low shelf with its legs folded neatly beneath it. Danny grinned seeing the grill, and thinking of the rather nefarious purposes he had for taking the device.

Quickly checking back into the house for his nosy sister and not finding her outside of her room, the youngest Fenton's grin grew wider. His parents were still out and most likely would be for awhile leaving nothing in the way of his mission. With a flash of light he seized the BBQ as quietly as he could hauling it off the shelf with newly transformed ease. Using his ghostly powers he went invisible and intangible, silently entering the lab and dumping his load by the portal's large form.

Staying in his altered state he phased back up into the kitchen and began searching the fridge, through the closed stainless steel door. It only took a moment for him to locate his query. A barely opened jumbo pack of hotdogs that he had been eating at for dinners when his parents were out, too lazy to cook anything more. He separated out ten of the weenies, and placed the remainder back in the loose packaging and plastic cling wrap.

He turned to the drawer under the counter and snatched a zipper baggie to put the confiscated hotdogs in to take with him. Grinning evilly to himself, he spied some plastic toothpick swords sitting atop the fridge, leftovers from a birthday party or something no doubt, and decided to grab them as well.

Hearing a chair squeak from upstairs startled the teen and he almost popped back into the visual spectrum from his distraction. Blinking rapidly to clear his head he dived down into the floor just as his sisters door squeaked open.

He stood in the lab, now visible, for a moment critically listening to the muffled sounds that were filtering down from above. He could hear the tap running and glass clinking against glass before everything went silent once more. The creak of the stairs going back up allowed the teen to release a breath he hadn't known he was holding. He waited an extra few seconds after the click of the bedroom door before he turned to face the portal once more.

Pulling on the lever to open the maw of the swirling green beast, rewarded him with a hiss of decompression and a groan of metal on metal. Placing the hotdogs and mini swords inside the Ecto-Grill to make it easier to carry, he hoisted his load close to his chest, and once again flickered out of sight simultaneously flying into the swirls of green as he did.

The teen stayed out of sight until he began to near his destination; the skull shaped island floating ominously in the distance. He called out to the island's owner as he neared it not wanting to be on the wrong end of a weapon if he managed to startle the usual occupant of this location.

With a shrug the ghostly teen flew over to a nearby clearing looking around expectantly. He fought back a shiver that threatened to rage through his body as he thought back to the last time he was in this exact clearing, with Valerie handcuffed to him. The white haired teen decided to busy himself, knowing he'd made enough noise to alert the owner of this lair.

He hoisted the BBQ and extended out the folded legs allowing the egg shaped Ecto-Grill to stand about chest height to his scrawny form. He took out the hotdogs and placed them on the thin shelf that sat proudly to the left of the little cooker. Looking underneath the base of the Fenton fryer he found the poorly named 'Fenton flipper,' a pair of 'Fen-tongs', and a 'Fenton brand' oven mitt. The teen sighed at his fathers' aptitude to stick their name on anything and everything no matter how little he actually altered it.

As he was hanging the aforementioned cooking tools on the side of the BBQ, his enhanced hearing began to pick up a soft chugging sound in the distance. Calling out again into the treeline, he didn't have to wait long before the other ghost joined him. The tall mechanical ghost touched down to his right and immediately began inspecting the device that was brought to him.

"Greetings Ghost Child" Skulker said simply not even turning to look at the boy. "I must admit, I wasn't expecting you so soon, but nonetheless I am rather excited."

"Well I'm glad then, I brought hotdogs. I wasn't really sure what you would like… You do um, like hotdogs… right?" The younger held his bag of 'dogs aloft for the taller ghost to inspect.

"Don't insult me boy, any self respecting hunter enjoys a weenie roast." He sent a sidelong glance to the boy beside him, but his voice was light.

"That's good, besides these are the most entertaining." Danny grinned holding out the small toothpick swords for the hunter to inspect. Understanding flashed across his metal face and a grin soon matched the boy's fleshy one.

"I do enjoy when prey believes themselves to have a fighting chance." He said a malicious glint in his eye.

"I'm aware… Your not gunna wait until I show you this then like, attack me to get my 'pelt' or something right?"

The metallic ghost scoffed. "I gave my word that if you thought me how I could be a "proper predator" as you put it, I would leave you be for a time. No self respecting ghost worth his ectoplasm would go back on their word."

"Well, that's good then." The teen replied flatly tossing the baggie of weenies to his temporary companion. "You can live out your fantasies of being a tiger or whatever…"

"Just a Tiger?" Skulker asked seemingly insulted. "I have the swift strike of a cobra! The eyes of a hawk! The fierceness of-"

"Okay, okay I get it greatest hunter and all that, now come one I'm not gunna show you this again..." Danny grumbled pinching the bridge of his nose as he started to second guess his decision to come here.

Skulker gave an annoyed huff but didn't rebuke and instead came to stand beside the halfa. The small boy began to fiddle with the knobs and dials on the front of the device explaining how it worked as he did so, pointing out where the 'fuel' goes and how to control the other 'features' of the strange grill.

Skulker watched with rapt interest as he was given the baseline rundown of the device. Following the smaller ghosts instructions the 'Fenton Fryer' burst to life with a flash of green fire under the glowing grill. The metallic ghost grinned seeing the flames dance beneath the cooking surface, before dropping the lid to let it heat up.

"Excellent! Now. I have something for you; child." The tall ghost said happily, making the teen a little nervous at the look he was being given. In one fluid motion Skulker opened his chest plate and pulled out two rolled up pieces of softly glowing cloth.

Skulker's metallic grin only widened as the small teen unfurled the ghostly garment realizing what it was. An overly large apron that looked more suitable to fit his father then his small wiry frame. An ecto-green "Kiss The Cook" was emblazoned on the front, and the whole garment gave off a faint white-green glow.

"Um, oh thanks... I think it's a little big though." He scanned the front of the item he was holding forcing a smile that didn't quite reach glowing green eyes.

Watching the taller ghost's somewhat crestfallen look however made Phantom sigh and tie the apron around his hips, having the neck piece too large to keep from falling around himself. He was able to wrap the strings around his thin waist twice before tying it in a loopy bow to the side of his hip. Satisfied as he was able to keep the aprons phrase still somewhat visible, and turned to see the metallic ghost wearing an identical apron of his own and flashing a toothy grin.

"You need to have the right gear to cook, as you would need the correct tools to properly hunt." The tall ghost nodded affirmatively, smacking the smaller across the shoulder almost making him loose balance, before turning back to the Ecto-grill.

Danny blinked, and took a moment to pause and take in the absurdity of his life at this moment. He was on a cook out… In The Ghost Zone, land of the dead…. Willingly using his parents ecto-cooker… With one of his most annoying enemies, who literally; not even a week ago, had thrown him through three office buildings, and helped him perfect the making of self portraits in the pavement… With the two of them wearing matching 'Kiss The Cook' Aprons…

Because of course he was.

"Well whatever," He mumbled under his breath to himself as he scooped up the hotdogs and handed them to the flame headed ghost.

"Excellent whelp, we will feast upon this flesh tonight!" The metallic ghost's boisterous voice boomed around the clearing, as he held the zipper baggie aloft valiantly.

The white haired teen stared at the larger ghost before shrugging. "Tonight we dine on sentient weenies!" Phantom shouted to the heavens as he opened the lid of the cooker, giving in to the absurdity.

His taller companion grinned affirmatively before turning with a vicious glint in his eye to dump the baggie of 'dogs on the grill. "Now your sounding like a proper ghost!"

"Huh? What does? Shouting things at the top of my lungs that barely make sense, or just giving in to the insanity?"

"Both… But mostly the first thing" Came the honest reply.

Danny took a moment to contemplate that. Most of the ghosts he'd encountered had a tendency to scream their names and plans out to who ever was around, weather people wanted to listen or not. He smirked, biting back a laugh as he imagined himself flying around town, shouting to any movement he saw that he was on patrol.

"So during my next fight I should be screaming out something like 'I, Phantom, Amity Park's great defender, shall banish you back from whence you've came!' to my opponent instead of the witty banter?" He rolled his eyes as he used his' over the top hero voice' when he shouted his name.

"Ohhh that's a good title" Came the response with an eager nod.

"Yea... no." The white haired teen's deadpan reply fell on deaf ears as the two continued to spread the weenies across the grill.

"Titles are important in The Zone. I, Skulker, The Ghost Zone's greatest hunter, should know" He spoke with a raised metallic brow pulling the lid to the grill down. Skulker turned to face the smaller ghost with a mischievous grin. "Admit it, you enjoyed shouting out your name and self proclaimed title."

"That's not the point!" The teen snapped back.

His giant companion slapped his back while letting loose a low jovial laugh, sending Phantom sprawling onto the ground with a groan.

The wiry ghost boy peeled himself off the ground and sent a half hearted glare towards the other spectral entity. Skulker simply shrugged in response. Danny checked the temperature gauge on the BBQ before turning back to the metallic ghost. "Shouldn't be long now." He rubbed his shoulder and rolled his neck as the other watched him with intrigue.

"It will be interesting." The tall ghost mused earning a confused look from Phantom. "Sharing the hunt with you."

"Wait, what?"

"Well of course! These creations, while you have gifted them to me, are still your creatures. It's only fair you join in the hunt." It was Skulker's turn to look confused.

"Oh, um, that's nice of you, but they're all yours!" The green eyed teen shook his outstretched hands passively in front of him.

"Nonsense! You _WILL_ hunt with me." The metallic ghost stressed as his aura flared up along with the green flames atop his head.

"O-okay well if you insist…" Danny said nervously hoping to placate the aggravated ghost, knowing he could go from zero to one-hundred in no time. Hopefully the reverse also worked.

"Excellent!" Came the cheerful reply.

Apparently so, the teen mused heaving a sigh as he eyed the BBQ. A soft 'ka-thunk' echoed from within the confines of the ecto-proof lid making Skulker almost giddy with excitement.

"Sounds like they're almost cooked" Danny said as he attempted to look into the small bit of glass at the front of the grill.

"Indeed, our prey is waking up." The large ghost laughed out.

The teen raised a brow at the being beside him, who had a look now more akin to an kid seeing Santa at the mall then a feared destructive spectral entity. Calling sentient hotdogs 'prey' still kind of weirded him out to some degree however. Hearing another noise from within the grill snapped the smaller ghost out of his musings, just in time to latch the shiny steel buckles on the Fenton Fryer, before a more violent outburst could pop the lid open.

"They're feisty! …I like that." The fiery ghost grinned maliciously, his flaming hair reflecting in his sharp toothy metallic smile.

Green glowing eyes filtered over to the large specter, as the teen opened his mouth to speak. He abruptly shut it a second later. His quip about the tall ghost being creepy and obsessive dying in his throat. They were ghosts. Creepy was always their shtick, and obsessive is the whole reason most of them exist.

Hearing a few more bangs from the metal contraption before them made Danny grin. "It's like reverse popcorn" He mused aloud, only to be interrupted by another loud metallic clang. "Once the noises become constant their done!"

"Next time I'll bring mustard!" The hunter declared tapping on the outside of the grill lid with the tongs enlisting numerous angry noises from within. "Do you like Dijon whelp?" He asked, a perplexed look crossed his face.

"Um, is that the spicy kind? I'm not really fond of spicy… I like the sweet ones though." Phantom shrugged somewhat noncommittally.

"It can be, but I shall procure some Honey Dijon for us on our next hunt!" Skulker proclaimed loudly.

"Next hunt?" Phantom blinked up at the giant metallic ghost, unsure what to say. "You want this to be a regular thing?"

"Of course" He nodded narrowing his own pupiless glowing eyes at the halfa. "Unless you would rather me go back to hunting you?" He stated more then asked.

"Oh no that's okay... I enjoy my sleep." Phantom said quickly amusing the other ghost. "How about I get ya a BBQ cookbook so you can do more, um, interesting things then just hotdogs?"

"I'll hold you to that whelp" Skulker agreed. "The longer these living foods provide me with the entertainment, the longer I shall leave you be." He said with a dangerous tone to his voice.

"Sounds good to me," Phantom chuckled nervously rubbing the back of his neck as he looked up at the large ghost. "I'll make sure you'll have a collection of the best BBQ recipes I can find! Just give me a bit to find a few books…"

A Large number of loud bangs and angry hissing' gargling, and growling assaulted the pairs' ears. Skulker's metal Cheshire grin nearly split his face as he watched the younger ghost turn off the heat but leaving the lid closed.

"Is it time ghost child?" He asked his voice giddy with excitement.

"Yuuuuup" Came the reply with a popping P.

Phantom snatched the tiny swords and arranged them on the ground haphazardly not bothering to count how many he had as he scattered them about. Nodding once to Skulker as the large ghost moved around to the back of the grill.

He seemed so excited Danny could almost imagine him rocking back and forth clapping madly like a preteen girl. He hadn't seen the other being this excited since he first met the specter, after finding out Danny was indeed a halfa.

The white haired teen took to the air as he unlatched the clasps at the front of the BBQ, while pressing his weight down on the lid. Shooting Skulker a quick smirk he released the lid keeping himself behind the grill. As soon as the young ghost let go, the mutant 'dogs jumped out, almost knocking over the BBQ as they scrambled out of it.

The hissing weenies looked around confused, blinking as their beady eyes adjusted to the new light. One hot dog looked over and spotted the swords and gargled out an excited noise. The 'dog's stubby "legs" thrashed as it moved forward awkwardly, looking much like a drunk toddler. It eagerly snatched the toothpick weapon examining it for a moment before flailing it about. It let out a garbled noise of glee as it poked the pointed end into a nearby plant's leaf.

"Ah that one seems the most intelligent.." Skulker said with a contemplative nod. "I shall call it... Wesley" Phantom raised a brow but decided not to comment.

The other weenies took notice of the newly christened Wesley, and soon followed suit. Soon every one of the dogs had at least one sword some brandishing two.

The pair of ghosts watched amused as the sentient food organized themselves, and managed to work out how to use the swords. Skulker, after it bit of watching stepped forward, making his presence known to the 'dogs.

They stopped their mini sword fights and looked up the large ghost, growling angrily. Skulker laughed as the little hot dogs fanned out and poked at the metallic ghost with the small plastic toothpick swords. After a few attempts of them stabbing at the ghost one of the weenies swords broke.

It screeched in anger and fear as its weapon snapped in half, before launching itself up and attempting to bite the large ghosts metallic hand "Ow." He grunted and shook the food off.

Wesley the weenie watched the whole display blinking its black beady eyes as understanding flicked across its strange face. It gurgled something out to its companions, before as one they turned to the large flaming ghost.

Danny having seen the behaviour before turned invisible hoping to escape the weenie wrath. Thankfully for the teen it worked as the 'dogs all launched themselves at Skulker biting anything they could get their little teeth in.

"Feisty beasts! This is war!" Skulker grunted as he flailed about. The weenies crawled all over him drooling and snarling all the while. He managed to shake the 'dogs off just as a couple started to take an interest in getting into the armor of his suit.

Once the metallic ghost managed to shake them off he sent a quick blast into their midst causing them to yelp and gnash their jaws in anger. "They're persistent." Danny said invisibly catching the attention of a few confused wieners.

"Indeed they are!" He sent of another few shots into the group, and the hot dogs finally scattered off into the woods. Skulker laughed aloud as he watched them run. "And now the hunt begins!"

"So now what?" Danny asked flatly, becoming visible again as he watched the little weenies flee.

"We Hunt!" Skulker exclaimed loudly pumping a fist in front of his face. The robotic ghost proceeded to untie his apron with more care then Phantom had ever seen the hunter show with anything, before hanging it carefully on the side of the grill. He took off into the woods a moment later a grin planted firmly on his face.

The teen shot the large metallic ghost an amused glance before shrugging and gliding after him, after removing his own apron. He easily caught up to the flaming ghost, who was watching the forest floor through binoculars. Phantom looked into the direction the larger ghost was looking off to but couldn't see anything.

"Gurk!" Suddenly a metal arm was around his neck holding him tightly as the binoculars were shoved into his face harshly.

"Um. OW!" The teen growled, trying to back out of the larger specter's grasp.

"Do you see?" Skulker's harsh hushed voice hissed in his ear.

"Your pushing too hard! I can't even open my eyelids!" Phantom hissed out still feebly trying to pull the binoculars out from his face. "Let me go! You're going to give me, like two black eyes!"

"Quiet ghost child… You'll alert them to our presence!" He hissed back in a hash whisper finally releasing the teen.

"Yea 'cuz that's what I'm worried about at the moment…" The halfa rubbed at his glowing green eyes blinking back the odd pressure spots he was now seeing. Skulker huffed before clamping around the young apparition's shoulder in an iron grasp again and taking off towards a bush.

They crashed into the underbrush and Phantom was released causing him to summersault and land face first into a tree. "Jeez... He does me more harm when he's trying to be nice" Phantom grumbled his mouth agape in a silent moan of pain.

He opened his eyes dazed, suddenly realizing he felt movement within his cheek. Abruptly he shot up startled as a spindly appendage as shoved up his nose. The sudden movement unfortunately made him clench his jaw and the digit that was in his nostril quickly went limp.

Realization hit him all at once and he began sputtering out the bits of mutant hot dog with a pained look on his face. It's not that it tasted bad per say, but the fact knowing he just killed a sorta living thing by biting it in half creeped him out. He Stared blankly down at the bits of weenie that were now scattered around the floor, and supressed a shudder.

"Excellent job whelp! Perhaps I'll make a hunter out of you yet!" Skulker said excitedly flying over to the teen. "Interesting choice taking the true predator route. Although, I would have thought you to be more of a 'shoot your prey' type." He said with a quizzical smirk. "I admire your ferocity in the sport either way!"

"Yea, well... You can get the next one." Phantom replied simply choosing to ignore the other ghosts exuberance. "We're at war with the weenies after all" He repeated the hunting ghosts earlier words, with a smirk of his own.

"The war weenies will fall" The larger ghost agreed with a vicious glint in his eyes.

"To battle!" Phantom shouted fist in the air, giving up on trying to take any logical transition, and instead decided to humor the hunting ghost.

Skulker grinned again before flying off indicating for the teen to follow. Danny sighed before taking off after him a moment later, silently wondering what he'd managed to get himself into.

. .oo

It took quite a bit longer then Phantom would have thought to find the mutant hot dogs. They were about two hours in and still hadn't found them all. Skulker at some point left and came back with a bottle of ghostly ketchup intending to spray the weenies before going 'full predator' as Skulker had called it in order to 'one up' Danny's accidental one.

They had captured one in a net, which Skulker decided to eat himself. Danny managed to blast one into a million pieces, and a well aimed rocket from the robotic ghost ended another. They had just caught weenie number five in goop that Phantom had sprayed out from his hands. Skulker seemed unsure what to think as he looked down at the goop covered 'dog.

"I'm not eating that one." The large ghost said flatly watching the weenie struggle.

"Hey, least its caught."

"The point is to hunt like predators! And that means eating your prey once you catch it." Skulker reasoned.

Danny shrugged. "That's why I gooped it instead of blasting it."

"But it's _your_ ectoplasm..." The large ghost stressed looking almost disgusted as he poked the hissing hotdog with the sharp end of the knife that now was protruding out from his arm. Seeing the confused look the teen was giving him the large specter stood up and fully faced the teen, with a look of unease on his face. "You really don't know?"

"Know what?"

"Well... er, now is not the time for that..." Skulker concluded, blasting the wiener with a small laser ray obliterating it.

"Dude your being cryptic, it doesn't suit you." Phantom quipped trying to diffuse the sudden awkward air. "Now you gotta tell me what the big deal is."

"I do not wish to have this discussion with you on our hunt."

"But we were bonding so well before" The teen whined childishly hoping to get a rise from the other ghost.

"Later child." Skulker sighed with a frown. Seeing the younger apparition huff and cross his arms with a pout he decided to add, "Perhaps when your older."

"Um..." The white haired teen made an odd face, suddenly not sure if he wanted to know.

A screeching hiss unexpectedly rang through the forest, pulling Danny out of what ever disturbing thoughts he had been musing over. A few low growls echoed around the area seemingly coming from all around him. The teen looked over to his large companion in confusion who, in turn, seemed to have a look of relief flash across his face.

"We have company" The teen growled out.

In a flash the war weenies came flying out of the brush latching onto the ethereal teen, digging in their tiny razor sharp teeth into his legs. "Ow!" He yelped swiping his hand over the chomping hot dogs. He tried to turn intangible to shed the mini attackers however they managed to go incorporeal with him allowing them to stay clinging to his lower half.

"Get off you-! H-Hey! OW!" Green eyes went wide as one of the hot dogs managed to bite him right on his ghostly glowing butt. "GAK!" He cried out indignity before flailing his leg and falling back, sitting on the offending malicious masticating weenie.

As laughter fluttered into his ears he shot a harsh glare at the larger ghost. Only to jump up as he felt another unwanted 'pinch' on his upper thigh a little too close to something else for comfort.

"ACK! NoNoNoNo! No! I'm done! Low blow!" The teen's aura flared up franticly as he began grabbing at the 'dogs that were attempting to munch their way higher and higher up his legs.

He quickly snatched at the one that was moving ever closer to his er, nether regions, throwing it in the air and blasting it five times in revenge. He shuddered as he managed to pull off the other offending meat tubes not wanting to risk them getting to close to his own 'personal' one.

"I so don't want a weenie in there!" He yelped out as he grasped the final one squeezing it tightly. "...And that came out wrong..."

Skulker having heard the ghostly teens mumblings laughed so hard, Danny thought his armour was going to fall off him from the force of his chest convulsing. His laughter was cut off abruptly as the teen hucked one of the mutant hot dogs right into the tall ghosts face. It squirmed around before attempting to attack the metallic spectre's eyes.

It took all of a five seconds for Skulker to use his ketchup and bite the hot dog in half, and Phantom to blast the remaining nuisances. "HA!" The teen cheered, as he watched the bits of meat fall around the area. "I think that's all of them"

The large ghost let out a noncommittal hum as he attempted to mentally tally up the obliterated hot dogs. "I believe you are correct." He finally agreed.

Phantom grinned happily before turning fully to his temporary companion. "Soo... now what?" He examined his leg noticing his wounds had already healed up.

"Now we celebrate the hunt!" Skulker said grinning as he slapped the smaller on the shoulder a few times before firmly grasping the smaller spectre and flying off back to the clearing where they abandoned the ecto-grill.

Phantom watched him disappear deciding he should fold up the 'kiss the cook' aprons, having not much else to do while he waited for his sort of companion to return. He had just finished folding the cloth when the large ghost returned.

"Here whelp." He called as he landed tossing a glass bottle filled with luminescent yellow green swirling fluid. Danny looked at the bottle inquisitively. It looked like someone took highlighter fluid and added gelatin to it while keeping the colours somewhat separate.

He popped off the bottle cap and gave it a sniff. His nose was instantly bombarded with the sweet aroma, like some sort of topical punch, with an undefinable tang. "Ghost Zone soda?" The teen asked hopefully looking to the hunter as he downed half his bottle.

"Something like that." Came the amused reply.

Taking a sip Phantom scrunched his nose as the gel like fluid slid down his throat. The flavour was sweet as he'd expected, an odd mix of lemon, banana and pineapple yet not quite. The small ghost couldn't quite place that tangy aftertaste that mimicked exactly as it smelled, but knew he'd had it before.

"Some other kind of ectoplasmic drink then? Would explain that tangy taste..." he mused aloud more to himself than anything.

Skulker just smirked.

Narrowing his eyes Danny took another couple swigs of the strange drink before speaking again. "So earlier when I caught that hotdog..."

The metallic ghost coughed and looked like he was trying not to spit out his drink, before blinking a few times and quickly downing the remainder of his own bottle. He barely finished swallowing before he'd opened another, making Danny second guess the "soda" he was drinking.

"Is this some kinda ecto-beer? And honestly, your acting like your gearing up for something embarrassing, like when my dad came to-... Oh..." Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "OH! Are we going to have "the talk!" Ew! No. Please tell me this isn't going where I think this is going" Phantom whined pleadingly, abruptly thinking of downing his own bottle of... What ever this is.

While he could firmly say that on some level he had bonded with the hunting spirt before him over the past little bit, he was _soooo _not ready to have the ghostly equivalent of 'the birds and the bees' with him.

Throwing caution to the wind he downed the remainder of the fruity possibly alcoholic (ectoholic?) drink, and wiping his mouth on his jumpsuit sleeve. Seeing the look of pure horror, as the white haired teen thought about what he might have implied earlier, Skulker snorted a laugh as he finished off his second drink.

"It's closer to something like marriage." He said finally, with an almost longing far off note to his voice.

"Oh thank goodness..." The teen sighed out in relief, a hand clutched to his chest. Phantom's shoulders sagged down, as the tension went down leaving Skulker with an amused, albeit confused look.

"When an ethereal being gives a gift of pure energy to one another they become bonded. Some less sapient ghosts can even fuse together if each desires to, creating a new stronger beast." He said somewhat wistfully. "The ectoplasm given must be gifted willingly, and the shared emotions during this act are what bonds the pair. Once bonded you can share each others' energy and strength. Often bonded pairs or groups need to redo the bond on occasion... like an anniversary of sorts."

Skulker grinned at the thoughtful look on the young ghosts face. "Wait groups?"

"Like Walker's underlings, or the Far Frozen's clan."

Phantom nodded in understanding "Or Fright Knight and Pariah Dark?" At Skulker's nod Phantom grinned. "So like a marriage bonded over all emotions, or ambitions instead of just love. So then I guess I can get why you'd be weirded out after I blasted the weenie."

"Don't think too much into it boy." The older ghost growled out.

"There's someone you like isn't there? That's why you were so weird!" Glowing green eyes widened in amusement.

"Quiet whelp, or I'll take back our truce."

Phantom just laughed as the metallic ghost glared. "So I'm going to hazard a guess and say that asking who it is would not go well then?"

Skulker growled, and a rocket launcher popped out from his shoulder. His glowing irises narrowed dangerously, making Danny rub the back of his neck and chuckle nervously. "Thought so... Relax bucket head. Do they like you back?"

Skulker let out a low growl and continued to stare down the teen. Finally he relented and the launcher receded back into his suit. "I have yet to ask." He hissed.

"I recommend getting a present when you ask. Find something they like, ya know?" Danny offered.

The tall ghost's metallic face morphed into something akin to contemplative. "I shall need to research this, then I will capture the perfect gift for her!"

"So your gunna stalk her?" Danny raised a brow.

"Watching from afar to gather information!"

"You've done it enough to me, and I call it stalking. It's creepy, and like the worst way to start a relationship." The white haired spectre said bemused arms flailing about for emphasis.

The robotic ghost let out a low growl at the teen's dramatics. "It's done nothing for us." He added with a smirk as he grabbed his chest, pressing his palm into it in an overdramatic way.

"Those things have nothing in common!" Skulker sputtered indignantly, this only made the boy before him grin wider.

"I dunno... You watched _me_ from afar for like, sooooo long! Should I feel jealous?" Danny shot a shit eating grin before clutching his heart and doing his best impression of a soap opera. "All the info you've gathered on me... (sniff) It's meant nothing to you! I thought we had (sniff sob) something special!" He finished feigning a breaking heart, draping his arm over his eyes fake sobbing into is elbow.

Skulker sighed tiredly at the kids antics pinching the bridge if his would be nose in a face palm. "You're unbelievably annoying whelp."

"I try."

"You can keep that by the way." The large ghost sighed as he motioned to the rolled apron hoping to break the younger ghosts theatrics.

"And you can keep that here." He replied jabbing a thumb over his shoulder to the ecto-grill, before swiftly scooping up another drink out of the case. "I'll take one of these for later too if you don't mind." Phantom smiled showing almost too many teeth as he waved the drink he plucked in front of Skulker's exasperated face. "To drown my sorrows I mean." Phantom amended falling back into his overly dramatic sorrow

"You've made your point boy." The large ghost finished off another drink as he let out another exasperated sigh, tossing the bottle hoping to smack the teen in the head.

It didn't.

"I'm glad then... But seriously though-"

"Just leave Phantom." The metallic ghost said flatly interrupting the teen.

Green eyes widened in mock shock. "Gasp! You _DO_ remember my name!" He said theatrically holding his hands up to his cheeks. Although he couldn't keep the smirk off his face ruining the effect.

With a huff the large hunting ghost turned and flew away not wanting to dignify him with a response, picking up the remainder of the drinks as he went. Phantom broke out laughing as the retreating form shrunk into the distance, before turning to head home himself.

Once he made his way back through the portal and up to his room, he cracked open the stolen drink, before returning to his human form. He looked down at the odd fluid and mused about having to remember to ask Skulker where he could get some of it himself. Licking a few stray drops off his lips he turned towards his bed, shoving the glowing apron as far back as he could underneath and stuffing some stray stuff in front of it.

He might be able to give it to his Dad for his birthday or something like that. Even if it was glowing, he knew neither of his parents would bat an eye. More then half their house glowed after all!

He smirked at that.

He took a few more swigs of his drink as he checked the time. It was getting close to ten o'clock, and thus time for a patrol. Taking one last sip from the bottle he placed the cap back on it, before hiding it in his desk drawer for later. A smile drifted to his face as he grabbed his thermos.

He hated to admit it but he'd actually had fun with Skulker on their little hunting trip. "Now if I could only get all my reoccurring enemies to be on a similar wavelength I might be a solid B student again." He mused aloud.

No sooner were the words out of his mouth, did his ghost sense go off. He sighed out tiredly as he geared up to fight, letting the cool blue-white light of his transformation wash over him. He frowned deeply as a loud "BEWARE!" echoed outside. He shook his head as he dived intangibly through his wall and out into the cool night air.

˜Fin˜

* * *

_I may consider turning this into a mini series of sorts if people enjoy this. Let me know what you think! "Malicious masticating weenie" is a phrase that will forever be in my auto fill on my phone now... and I kinda feel good about that fact lol_

_Constructive crittisim is always appreciated! If you enjoyed it please leave a review!_


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